Rail-joint clamp.



A. 0, MUNN. RAIL JOINT ULAMP. APPLICATION IiLED OUT. 9, 1909.

Patented Mar. 8, 1910.

awuv/nto-r v flaw mm ALBERT O. MUNN, OF MARION, MICHIGAN.

RAIL-JOINT CLAMP.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed October '9, 1909.

Patented Mar. 8, 1911].

Serial No. 521,956.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT C. MUNN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Marion, in the county of Osceola and State of Michigan, haveinvent-ed new and useful Improvements in Rail-Joint Clamps, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention is an improved rail joint clamp for securing the meetingends of rails together and on the cross ties, the object of theinvention being to provide a device of this character which may bereadily installed and which serves to effectually secure the ends of therails without necessity ofem ploying bolts or like devices for securingthe ends of the rails between the usual fish plates.

A further object of the invention is to efiect improvements in theconstruction of the rail chair, detachable fish plate, and shoe,constituting my improved rail joint clamp so that the said parts may bereadily assembled, connected to the rails and secured onthe cross ties.

The invention consists in the construction, combination and arrangementof devices hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings :Figure 1 is an elevation of a rail jointclamp constructed in accordance with my invention, showing the sameapplied to the meeting ends of a pair of rails and mounted on the usualcross ties. Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view of the same on theplane indicated by the line a-a, of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a detailperspective view of one end of the rail chair and of one end of thedetachable fish plate, showing the co-engaging means for connecting thefish plate to the base of the chair so that longitudinal movement of thefish plate is prevented.

My improved rail joint clamp comprises a rail chair 1, a detachable fishplate 2 and a shoe 3, two or a suitable number of the shoes beingemployed in connection with each clamp.

The rail chair 1 comprises a base plate 4 to bear on the usual crossties 5 and under the rails 6, said base plate being formed with a fixedfish plate 7 to bear against one side of the rails and with an inclinedweb portion 8 connecting said fixed fish plate to the said base andbearing on the base flanges of one side of the rails. The width of thebase plate 4 considerably exceeds that of the bases of the rails so thatthe said base plate is formed with a lateral extension 9 011 one side,the ends of which are upturned to form stop flanges 10. The said fixedfish plate 7 is formed or provided with studs 11 which'are here shown asintegral therewith, the said studs engaging the usual openings in theshanks of the rails so as to lock the rails to the chair and preventlongitudinal movement thereof. 7

The detachable fish plate 2 is formed at its lower side with an inclinedoutwardly extendingweb 12 to bear on the base flanges of the rails. Thewidth of the said web exceeds that of the base flanges of the rails sothat said web at its outer edge bears on the base plate 9, as at 13. Thesaid detachable fish plate is disposed opposite the fixed fish plate 7so that the rails are between said fixed fish plate and detachable fishplate and the latter bears against the ends of the studs 11 as shown inFig. 2.. The said detachable fish plate 2 has its web 12 provided at itsends with notches 14 which receive the stop flanges of the base plate 4,said stop flanges and said notches forming co-acting devicesestablishing an interlocking connection between the base plate of thechair and the base web of the detachable fish plate and effectuallypreventing longitudinal movement of the latter while permitting thedetachable fish late to be readily removed from the chair after theshoes have been first removed.

Each of the shoes 3 comprises a base portion 15 to bear on the base webof the detachable fish plate, the outer edge of the lateral extension ofthe base plate and to also bear on the upper side of a tie, as indicatedclearly in Figs. 1 and 2, and a hood portion 16 at the center of thebase portion on the inner side thereof and rising therefrom to form ashoulder to bear against the detachable fish plate. The said hoodportion is of concavo-convex form with the concaved side undermost so asto form a hollow or chamber above the base web of the detachable fishplate to facilitate the evaporation of rain or other moisture and retardthe rusting or like deterioration of the metal of the detachable fishplate and the said shoe. The shoe has openings for the reception ofspikes 17 and 18, the spike 17 being at the center of the shoe and inposition to bear against the outer edge of the base plate 4 of the railchair and the spikes 18 being near the ends of the shoe to pass throughnotches in the base Web of the detachable fish plate, bear against theedges of the rail bases, pass through coincident openings in the baseplate 4 and enter the ties. The shoe on the side provided with the fixedfish plate is provided with notches for the reception of spikes 19 whichserve also to secure the chair on the ties.

It will be understood that the shoes which bear on the base web of thedetachable fish plate and are secured directly to the ties and also onthe base plate of the chair efiectually prevent the removal of thedetachable fish plate unless the spikes have been first drawn and,hence, the detachable fish plate can not become casually dislodged.Moreover, the shoes efiectually brace the detachable fish plate andenable it to withstand the stresses to which the same is subjected and,hence, my improved rail joint is eifective to prevent the spreading ofthe rails and other like accidents.

Having thus described the invention, What is claimed as new, is

1. In a railway joint clamp, the combination of a rail chair having abase to bear under the meeting ends of the rails, and a fixed fish plateto bear on one side of the rails and also on one side of the baseflanges thereof, and a detachable fish plate to bear on the oppositeside of the rails and having a base web to bear on the base flanges ofthe rails, the said base plate of the chair having a lateral extensionon one side on which the outer edge of the base web of the under themeeting ends of the rails, and a fixed fish plate to bear on one side ofthe rails and also on one side of the base flanges thereof, and adetachable fish plate to bear on the opposite side of the rails andhaving a base web to bear on the base flanges of the rails, the saidbase plate of the chair having a lateral extension on one side on whichthe outer edge of the base web of the detachable fish plate bears, saidlateral extension of the base of the chair having upwardly extendingstop flanges and the said base web of the detachable fish plate havingnotches for the reception of said stop flanges, for the purpose setforth.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in preseneeof two witnesses.

ALBERT O. MUNN.

IVitnesses THoMAs J. BLEVINS, I. TEUDO.

